Coop.



PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908.

M. G. FPJTS.-

COOP.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.3 1906.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED JUNE 2, 1908.

M C. FRITS.

COOP.

w'rmoumu FILED DEC. 3, 1906.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET '2.

I awmm co'o fliltan C.

' To all whom it miiy concern."

U an STATES 1 MIL O o. FRrrsoF nonam'n, ILLINOIS.

. coop.

Specification oi Letters'Patent. Patented June 2, i908. I

Application fllejd l lecember s 19oa.fserin No.'a4c,119. 1 e

Be it known that I, MILTON C. FRITS, 8.

" citizen of the United States, residingat Loraine, in the county. of Adams and State-of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Im rovements in' Coops; and I do de'' clare t e following tobea full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such 'as will enable others skilled in the. art to: which it appertains to make and use'th'e same.

s invention relates t oimprovements in coo sandnestin boxes for fowls.

T ,e objectof t 'einvention is to ro'vide a I device of this character constructe of sheet metal sections adapted to'be quickly folded or 'knockeddown into a compact form when not 1n use, means being provided whereby the arts of the same are firmly supported and eld'in position when set up.

Withtli'e above and other objects in view,

' the invention consists of certain novel fea-.

tu-reskof construction, combination and arrangement of arts, as will be hereinafter I described andc aimed.

In the accompanying. drawings: Figure 1 1s a'perspecti-ve view of'a coop constructed in accordance with the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of the same; Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view through the to and one of thecnds, showing the manner 0 joining these arts; Figi t is a perspective view,

- showing t e coopfolded; Flg. 5'is a perspective view of a-modified form of the coop;

Fig. 6 is avertical sectional view ofthe same; Fig. 7 is asimilar view taken at right anglesv to Fig. 6 and Fig. 8 is a side view of the coop, showing a modified form of thefastening devices for holding the side wall of the coop in an upright or operative position.

Referring" more particularly to the first. four figures of the drawings, in which the coop-is shown in A-form, 1 denotes the base or bottom plate of the coop, 2 denotes the triangular end pieces, and 3 denotes the in-- clined side walls, which also, form the cover or roofof the coop. The upper end of the side walls 3.ar.e bent inwardly, said inwardlybentends being lapped one over the other when the coop is set up in position for use, thus forming a water-tightjoint.

r The frontand rear edges of the inclinedside walls 3-are bent, or folded inwardly upon themselves, as shown at 4,v and with said inwardly-bent edges are adapted to be engaged outturncd flanges 5 on the edges of the triangularend 'pieces 2, thereby forming an interlocking joint between the ends and the side .walls 0t thecoop as illustrated in Fig. 3.

hold

' rods 6 prevent the nward movement or collapsing of saidend pieces and firmly brace the parts of the coop when set u in an operative position. on one end o the rods or bars6 are formed rings or loops Z, by means of which the same may be readily withdrawn or. inserted through the pertures in the sides of the coop. x

' In order that the sidepieees of the coop may be firmly secured together attheir up per ends," a fastening hook 8' is provided.

aid hook 8 is pivotally connected tq the overlapping portion; of one of the side pieces, andis adapted to be hooked into an aperture formed in the opposite side piece, as shown..

a The lower edges of the sides of the coop are ,prefe'rabl bent inwardlyto form flanges 9, upon hich the bottom plateor, base 1 isa apted torest. The side pieces or walls. of the coopare further connected to the bottom the adj acent ed es' of the side and base pieces of the coop.- T e front and rearedges of the base piece 1 are connected to the lower edges of the triangular front and rear end of-t e .coop by means of rings 13.,inserted through. apertures 14 in' the ad'acent-edges of said front and rear pieces an the base plate; By thus .loosely connecting the dpieces ofthe coop together at their lower e es,'the same ma be readily folded inward y when it is deslred to take'down or pack the coop. If desired one or both of the ends 2 may be provided: with openings 15 adapted to be closed by a slatted door or grating 16 and a wire netting door 17, which are hung or hingedat their upper edges to swing upwardly, as shown.

The slatted I when the coop is employed to confine a hen and brood of chickens, said slatted door permitting the chickens to enter and leave the .coo p at will but preventing the escape of the or base plate by'me'ans of wire rings'lO that v are inserted through apertures 11 and 12in door 16 is provided for use rods or bars thro i h aline'd apertures 6 in thesidepieces hen. When it is desired to also confine the chickens and to kee outintruderathe wire nettin door 17 is c osed. I

.In igs. 5-, 6, 7 and 8 of the drawings is 3 gm-shown a modified construction of coo the same being here shown as being of en stantially' rectan ular form, and is intended more particular] for use as a' nesting box. In the construction shown in'the above figures, the base back piece 19 and the top 20 are preferably formed imm one piece of.

sheet metal bent at suitable intervals to form said parts. The base piece 15 is also bent upwardly at its forward edge to form a lower 15 portion of the front of the coop or box. The

- side edges of the top, back and base pieces are bent or folded inwardly, as at 21, to receive the right angularly'bent flanges 22 of the side ieces 23 of the coop, thus forming 20 an inter ocking, construction between said ed es of the side pieces and the other parts atta'c hed thereto.

- In order to prevent the side pieces of the coop from fallmginwardly and collapsing I provide lower fastening members or rods 24 a that are inserted through the upwardly-bent 'foi'ward edge of the base piece and through alined apertures 24- formed in the back-piece.

' The rods 24 engage the'inner walls of the side In ad-- 3,; pieces adjacent to their lower ends.

' ition to the rods 24 I may em loy upper fastoning members or rods 25, W iich are inserted through apertures 25 in the top piece of the coop and project downwardly and rearf i wardly at an angle cross the inner wall of the side pieces and proj set. through apertures 26 formed in the back piece above the lower rod,

thereby firmly securing the side pieces in position.

, ,Instead of the fastening rods 24 and 25 1 for holding the side pieces in osi-tion, I may, if desired, employ movable astening members in theform of catches 26 consisting of substantially triangular plates pivoted upon min outer wall of the side pieces and adapted to be turned to bring one end of the same through'alined slots 27 formed in theright angularly-bent flanges of the side pieces and the adjacent portions of the front, top and back sections of the coop,thus securely look ing said parts'together. The inner ends of the catches 26 are preferably bent outwardly to form grips by means of which the catches malybe operated. 5 he upper portion of the front of the box or coop shown in the last figures of the drawings may be closed by a wire netting door 28, which is hinged or looselyconnected to the forward edge of the top section or roof,'as

6Q ShOWIl til 29- From the fore oing description, taken in :1 connection with t e accompanying drawings,

the construction and operation of the niventio'nwill be readily understood without requn'mg a more extended explanation.

Various chan es in the'form, proportion and the minor etails of constructlon may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advanta es flanges to form an interlocking joint connection for )reventing movement of the movable wa in one direction, and means independent of said flanges for fixing the relatively movable wall against movement in the opposite direction and to hold the flanges in mterlocking engagement.

2: A coop of the t pe described embodyg ing side and end we is, a pair of'said walls being movable one relative to the other, one of the movable walls having inwardly folded, substantially U-sha' ed edge flanges and the other being rovi ed with right-singularly g5 out-turned'e ge flanges designed for interlocking engagement with the first-named flanges toprevent movement of the movable flanges designed for interlo'ckin engagement I with the first-named flanges to orm an interlocking connection between the walls and we prevent relative movement thereof in one direction, removable rods extended through the side walls in rear of the end walls for fixing the latter against movement in the other direction and to hold the flanges in engagement, inturned flanges formed on the lower edges of a pair of said walls, a base or bottom 1 giiece arranged to rest on saidinturned anges, and means for loosely pivoting the edges of the base piece to the lower edges of the side and end walls, thus adapting the parts to fold one u on another.

In testimony w iereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

MILTON O. FRITS. 

